Longtermism = safeguarding the people of the future
If you have 3 dollars that you can give to a homeless person, but don’t know what they may spend it on, your money is better spent on malaria nets; this EA perspective may be criticized for missing the point of morality. A human being asked you for help and you ignored them. - Response to that is that they have the privilege to ask in the first place.
- Lisa Herzog, “Can EA Really Change the World?” in Open Democracy,
- Bernard Williams, “Utilitarianism and Moral Self-Indulgence”
Future people, by definition, do not exist.
There are people who need help now.
The non-identity problem: Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons.
The precipice
Pascal’s mugging & Non-identity problem
Measurability bias in treating charity as a science experiment; short term charity is more observable and qualifies how beneficial it is compared to the long term reconstruction of financial and political institutions.
Private foundations; modern philanthropy, (Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth) - never question how the money is made, nor change the economic system/political structure, the act of giving is prioritized.
Slavov Zizek, “Nobody Has To Be Vile”
The lack of empirical evidence can only be supplemented by business clout; working within a system. - Crypto hype;
charities are often run by westerners - Anthony Kalulu, “Effective Altruism is Worse Than Traditional Philanthropy in the way it excludes the extreme poor in the global south”
Whose version of the future gets listened to?
Alexander Zaitchik “The Heavy Price of Longtermism”
How do we achieve EA?
Do we strive towards Working within a systemor Dismantling a system ?